The beginning of the end for ISIS, which increased its effectiveness and spread fear to the world with the civil war that started in Syria in 2011, was the attacks it launched against the city of Kobanê in Northern and Eastern Syria in 2014. ISIS, which united with the Nusra Front in Syria in 2013, occupied Iraq's cities such as Fallujah, Raqqa and Mosul, which it calls the "capital of the Caliphate", and Mosul in a short time. ISIS, which attacked Shengal on August 3, 2014, massacred the Ezidis, kidnapped thousands of women and sold them in the slave markets it established.

 

"Democratic Autonomy" was declared in Kobanê, which was taken from the regime forces along with Afrin and Cizîre in Northern and Eastern Syria in January 2014. After the Shengal attack, ISIS launched a three-pronged attack on Kobanê, which is located between both cantons, on September 15, 2014. ISIS, which wanted to stifle the people's revolution by attacking Kobane, planned to capture the small city of Northern and Eastern Syria in a short time, but encountered one of the greatest resistances in history. The months-long resistance of the people of Kobanê brought the end of ISIS, which had become a nightmare for humanity.

 

Following the calls for mobilization, thousands of people, including internationalist revolutionaries from different countries, flocked to the border. Some of those who came to the border against the attack launched by ISIS with advanced technological weapons went to Kobanê and joined the resistance, despite the obstacles. Those resisting in Kobanê were greeted by those who covered the Pirsûs (Suruç) border opposite the city with a human chain, and the resistance grew day by day.

 

CALL FROM ABDULLAH ÖCALAN

 

Some important developments during the 134-day resistance, which started with the attacks of ISIS on September 15, 2014, and continued until January 26, 2015, when Kobanê was liberated under the leadership of YPJ, YPG and Euphrates Volcano Operations Room fighters, are as follows:

 

September 22: PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan said: “The fall of Kobanê means the fall of all Kurdistan. Everyone should act according to this reality. All Kurds should unite and organize their lives according to the war situation and expand the resistance.Kobanê is the key to solving the Kurdish question." After his message, Kurds in four parts turned their direction to Kobanê. Kurds became a single voice to claim Kurdishness and Kurdistan in the person of Kobanê.

 

September 26: Thousands of people gathered at the Mürşitpınar Border Gate, removed the fences next to the border gate and started to cross to Kobanê in groups.

 

October 1: In the images reflected on the live broadcast of İMC TV, ISIS members were seen coming out from under the train tracks and going to their positions.

 

October 7: Tens of thousands of people walked to the border against the danger of massacre in Kobanê and dispersed to the villages along the border and stood guard.

 

ERDOĞAN: KOBANÊ HAS FALLEN, IT WILL FALL!

 

October 7: AKP President Tayyip Erdoğan's words about Kobanê, "Kobane has fallen, it will fall", in a speech he made in Dîlok, set the stage for protests involving thousands of people in many cities. On October  6-8, 2014, 46 people lost their lives as a result of armed attacks by police and soldiers against the protests, as well as clashes with HUDA PAR members.

 

October 31: Peshmerga forces, who came from the Federated Kurdistan Region within the scope of the fight against ISIS and were kept on the border line route for three days, passed through the Mürşitpınar Border Gate to go to Kobane.

 

November 1: On the declared World Kobanê Day, tens of thousands of people flocked to Mehser village, where a resistance vigil was held for Kobanê.

 

November 6: Social Freedom Platform activist and Marmara University Master's student Kader Ortakaya (28) lost her life in the attack with gas bombs and live bullets on both sides of the border during the artists' human chain action.

 

December 3: The second peshmerga force of 150 people sent to support YPG/YPJ fighting against ISIS in Kobanê also arrived in Kobanê.

 

January 19: After ISIS was repelled, the YPG flag and the photo of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan were hung on Miştenur Hill, one of the most strategic points of Kobanê.

 

January 26: In Kobanê, which did not surrender to the darkness, as a result of 134 days of resistance, ISIS, which spread fear to the whole world, was brought to its knees and the city was liberated.

 

THE DEFEAT OF ISIS CREATED DISTURBANCE 

 

The resistance in Kobanê, which the whole world recognized and showed solidarity with for its unprecedented resistance, has been the subject of countless articles, news, dozens of documentaries, stories, books and films in the past 8 years. After Kobanê, ISIS was defeated step by step in other cities and regions it dominated. ISIS was defeated geographically after the Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD) liberated Baghouz, the last piece of land held by ISIS. In the places where ISIS was eliminated, people began to build a new life together under the umbrella of the Northern and Eastern Syrian Autonomous Administration with the "Third Way" strategy. The growing gains of the Kurds, who defeated ISIS, increased Turkey's discomfort. Turkiye tried to implement its plans, which it could not implement with structures such as ISIS and Al Nusra, by going into the field directly and by the paramilitary forces called FSA-SMO, which it trained and equipped, and by itself.

 

TURKİYE ATTACKS KURDS TO REVIVAL ISIS

 

Having captured Jarablus, Azaz and Bab, Turkey and the paramilitary forces it supported attacked Afrin on January 20, 2018 and completely plundered the city they entered. Hundreds of civilians were kidnapped and tortured, and the fate of dozens of kidnapped civilians is still unclear. Turkey and the paramilitary forces it supports attacked the cities of Serêkaniye and Girê Spî on October 9, 2019, a year after Afrin, causing the death of hundreds of civilians in these cities. In parallel with Turkey's increased mobility in Northern and Eastern Syria, ISIS started attacks again. Although ISIS was destroyed geographically in 2019, it is active again today with the support of Turkey and many countries.

 

KOBANÊ CASE

 

On the other hand, the AKP, which lost its ability to rule alone in the June 7, 2015 General Elections, began to show its intolerance to the defeat of ISIS and launched a wave of political attacks on the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) through the judiciary. A lawsuit was filed against 108 people, including former HDP Co-Chairs, Central Executive Board (MYK) members and managers. 108 people, who are listed as defendants in the case file known to the public as the "Kobanê Case", heard at Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court, are being tried on 29 separate charges, with 38 aggravated life sentences and 19,680 years of imprisonment each. In addition, the Kobanê Case was the main reason for the indictment prepared by the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Public Prosecutor's Office requesting the closure of HDP.

 

TOMORROW: Ferhan Hec İsa, President of the Euphrates Council of the Syrian Future Party, who took part in the Kobanê resistance, talked about the 134-day resistance in the city.

 

MA / Emrullah Acar